The Long Seasons
by Shinryudan
Summary: When a family comes to Radiant Garden, what will unfold? An episodic set of chapters about their lives and such. Each chapter has a song to which it is themed. Classic pairings; Crossover because I use other FF, but mainly FFX, material; Rated T for safety.


I don't own KH or Final Fantasy X. AU and OC.

Setting: Radiant Garden; Timeframe: Two years after the Keyblade War provoked by Master Xehanort.

Sora walked into his workplace, a small restaurant run by his parents, after school. He was usually bored these days, and had nothing to do. His parents figured he should spend his summers catching up on school. Even after that, he worked in the restaurant, called Union Place.

Riku and Roxas also worked there, and happened to be setting up for the evening rush.

"Lemme guess, teacher giving you a lecture?" Roxas said.

"Look, it's not my fault I don't understand the themes of a poem about a woman traveling through the world. There are no other themes other than her watching things go by and her experiencing new things. But no, 'it's all about how she perceives them', he says." Sora said, putting up his hands in defense.

"That still isn't a reason for you to come late! We've been preparing for the evening rush, and we're not even done setting up the main hall yet! Get your ass in uniform and help us set tables!" Riku said angrily.

Sora went to the changing room and put on his waiter's outfit: black and white dress shirt, and black slacks with dress shoes. Of course, all topped off with a snazzy bow-tie.

After all the tables were set, Sora prepared to take orders, and Roxas to be host for the night. Riku was in the kitchen helping his (Sora's) parents getting ready to cook. A couple more people who worked as waiters came in for the evening rush.

Almost as soon as the clock hit six-thirty, the flow of customers began. Everyone from around town and everywhere else came to eat here. It was incredibly popular, and the food was great. Sora could testify, having eaten his parents' cooking his entire life.

"Hello, ladies, how can I start off the night for you?" Sora said to Namine, Kairi, and their friends. Kairi gave him wink, which made Sora blush a little, even though the two had been dating for months.

As they gave their orders, Sora was already preparing his next conversation starter for the next table.

"I see you two haven't drifted apart one bit! How are Lulu and Wakka these days?" Sora said to Tidus and Yuna.

"Lulu's always busy trying to teach Vidina to talk, because Wakka's finally gone back to coaching the Aurochs. They're doing a lot better this season." Yuna said.

Sora greeted all sorts of familiar faces: Aerith, Leon, Cloud, and everyone else. It was one of the few times he felt happy and excited during the day. Just then, Roxas called Sora on his earpiece.

"Sora, I'm sending some new customers your way. They look like out-of-towners. Don't screw this up." he said.

"Have I ever disappointed?" Sora said sarcastically.

Sora looked over at the newcomers, and took a moment to take in the sight.

It was a family of five: a tall, dark-skinned man, with a woman of a lighter complexion who had very different features, presumably his wife. There was another boy, who looked around Riku's age, and then a girl of about Kairi's age, who bore similarities to their individual parents. Finally, there was little girl who was a sort of mish-mosh of both parent's characteristics.

"Hello, folks, my name's Sora, and I'll be your waiter for tonight. Can I start you guys off with any drinks? The bartender's a personal friend of mine, and his cocktails are spot on!" Sora said with enthusiasm.

"No thank you, we don't drink. Also, do you have any vegetarian options? We don't eat meat, but egg and milk are fine." the woman said.

"I'll ask the chefs. Can you eat seafood?" Sora asked.

"No." the woman said.

Sora was somewhat surprised. They hadn't had a vegetarian party order before, but he knew that his parents were prepared for it.

When Sora walked into the kitchen, his father yelled, "Sora, what the hell are you doing here!? You should be serving the customers!"

"Dad, we have a bit of a problem." Sora said.

Riku and Sora's parents stopped in their tracks to listen.

"We have an entire party of vegetarians, and they're asking if we can make any of the dishes vegetarian. They're OK with egg and milk, but they won't eat seafood." Sora said.

"Sora, get back out there. I know I'll manage. I'll personally take care of that order." Sora's mom said.

Sora, not doubting his mom, went back out to the hall, and talked to the vegetarian party.

"All right, it looks like we'll be able to make anything on the menu vegetarian. And my mother has decided to personally take care of your order, so you're in for a real treat!" Sora said.

"Thank you." the woman said again.

"So, are you guys from out of town or something?" Sora asked.

"Actually, we just moved here. My name is Aquatos Leonhart, and this is my wife Pastelle. These are my children (*This is in descending order of age): Alexander, Lena, and Elise." the man said.

"Well then, allow me to personally welcome you to Radiant Garden, Mr. Leonhart." Sora said.

"Nin fork attad maad beda." Pastelle said to Elise, who was playing with her fork, and then set it down.

Sora was bewildered by the strange language the woman used. And now that he thought about it, they all wore strange clothing as well. Aquatos wore slacks and dress shirt with dress shoes underneath an intricately decorated blue fur-trimmed coat. His wife wore what looked like a length of silk around her body that was black with silver filigree designs (*This is supposed to be a sari). The three children were more normal, wearing the clothes that Sora was used to seeing on teenagers and kids in Radiant Garden.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear that, Mrs. Leonhart. Could you repeat that?" Sora said.

"Oh, I was just telling my daughter not to play with the fork in our native language." she said.

"Which is what, may I ask? We only speak English here." Sora said.

"We speak Kannada, which, in English, is called Canarese." Aquatos said.

"Hey, Dad, Elise wants to ask you something." Alexander said.

Aquatos turned to his youngest daughter, ready to listen.

"Anna, sing the color song again!" Elise said.

"Not here, Elise. There's too many people listening." Aquatos said.

"Oh come on, Dad. You have a really nice singing voice. You can at least do it quietly." Lena said.

Lena, Sora noticed, was kind of pretty. But, he didn't think that Kairi would be happy with him seriously flirting with another girl.

After much pressure from his family, Aquatos cleared his throat, and started to sing.

"Pachai nirame, pachai nirame, ichai ootum pachai nirame..." he sang in an low tenor voice.

Alexander then joined in, using the higher register of tenor voice, "Pullin sirippum pachai nirame, enakku sammadham tharume..."

People were beginning to listen attentively, some even enjoying and humming to the repetitive tune.

Pastelle came in with mid-soprano range voice, singing, "Pachai nirame, pachai nirame, ilayin nilaimai pachai nirame..."

Finally, Lena joined in with a high soprano voice that was sweet as a songbird's voice, "Undhan narambum pachai nirame, enakku sammadham tharume..."

After taking Elise onto her lap, and playing with her, she continued to sing, "Killayil kaannum killayil killiyin mookku, vidalai pennin vettrilai naakku..." and Elise giggled.

The song went on, and people, though they didn't understand the lyrics, continued to hum to the tune. Sora was captivated by the spectacle.

After the song was over, it was practically written on Aquatos' face that he enjoyed the performance. There was a great deal of applause, which went on for five minutes.

"That was amazing! You guys are really talented! Were you famous in your hometown, or what?" Sora said, still clapping.

"We frequently sang at parties with our friends, so doing this sort of thing at home became a family activity we all enjoy." Alexander said.

"That song was called Pachai Nirame, which, in Tamil, yet another language in our home, means the color green. Elise thoroughly enjoyed the first time I sang that song in the home of one of our old friends, and she still likes to ask me to sing that song." Aquatos said.

"If you don't mind me asking, what was it about? The song, I mean." Sora said.

"It's technically a love song, but we don't sing it in that way. The man in the original song is singing about many colors, and uses them to describe a woman's beauty." Lena said.

Just as their conversation ended, Sora's mother came out of the kitchen with a platter of food that was specially prepared for their newest customers.

"Consider this a welcome to Radiant Garden. I can tell you that entire town loves you already, considering more than half of them came to dinner here tonight! We could hear you from the kitchen, and the entire kitchen staff loved it! Consider your meal on the house!" she said.

Sora's mother's personality, if not her appearance, was very similar to Sora's, having a strong sense of justice and loyalty to friends. His mother, physically, was lithe, having straight black hair, but had the same sharp blue eyes Sora had. It was often said that Sora took more after his father, essentially a more muscular and older version of his son.

After the food had been served, Sora's mother had the Leonhart family participate in their town tradition of having a photo taken of new customers.

"We thank you for the food, which was excellent. You can be sure we will return often from now on." Aquatos said.

After the family left, Sora couldn't help wonder about them. Thoughts about who they were and where the came from plagued his sleep. He was going to talk to them again, and was going to make sure of it.

Notes:

Kannada = The official language spoken in the South Indian state of Karnataka, in English, called Canarese, and also my native tongue.

Tamil = The official language spoken in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Pachai Nirame is a real Tamil song, and is quite pleasing to listen to:  watch?v=ZZbDhcW7PMk


End file.
